Kauffman Foundation-powered program sees growing demand for international events

(SEATTLE) June 20, 2012 – Startup Weekend — a Kauffman Foundation-supported nonprofit that delivers hands-on entrepreneurship education — is opening its first regional headquarters offices in London and Mexico City. The Seattle-based organization, which works with people to develop the skills, connections and confidence they need to launch a company, is on track to organize more than 500 Startup Weekend events this year, 65 percent of which will take place outside the United States.

"The most important thing we could be doing for society, our economies and the world right now is helping more people become successful entrepreneurs," said Startup Weekend CEO Marc Nager. "We've had demand for more than 2,000 events this year in more than 100 countries. Regional operations will allow us to scale faster and continue to feed a fundamental shift in communities that are trying to create more vibrant startup ecosystems."

Startup Weekend's 20-person staff works with thousands of organizers worldwide to host 54-hour educational events. The goal of the Startup Weekend events is to increase the quantity and quality of entrepreneurs by delivering intense learning experiences that show participants how to build teams, validate ideas and take the first steps in launching a business.

About Startup Weekend™Startup Weekend supports the development and expansion of entrepreneurship through events worldwide that educate aspiring entrepreneurs by immersing them in the process of moving an idea to market. Startup Weekend has built a network of more than 55,000 alumni, thousands of volunteer organizers and 100 trained facilitators spread across more than 300 cities in 100 countries. Kauffman Foundation, Google, Microsoft, .Co, Sendgrid and Cloudmine are sponsors. For more information, visit http://www.startupweekend.org/ or follow on Twitter @startupweekend.